Journal Walk #3
Megan Scherer
Alright, I struggled with this mapping progress because of the constant rush of social meaning/structures being put on the places I live. I decided to take a step back to see what people around me invested in through social meanings and social situations placed on them. What better to do than go to my roots of watching people around me. Drinking. I grew up in a town that revolved around social gatherings to drink. I decided to take a walk through downtown, its a hustle and bustle place. Small coffee shops, little boutiques, a walk next to the river, and parks everywhere. Now, lets look at this place through a lense of a social drinking town. There is a bar every other block downtown, parks everywhere which makes it easy for teens to drink at night, and liquor stores at almost every cross road outside of the down town area. Its really really easy to sneak between bar locations to take a shot from your pockets, and even easier to walk around down town with a drink in your hand. This is a perfect town to drink and walk home, or drink and follow the river till dawn. For a night I followed my friends and family around, showing me where they socialize for their bar hops. Red dots represent the bars that are downtown, Pink is the liquor stores, Parks are green, and the river is blue. Everyone socialized over a drink, besides me. I also thought it could be fun to look for others who don't drink and remain sober. Unfortunately, I was at a loss, people who didn't drink only made that choice because of plans the next day. Further proving my point that choosing bar locations were a perfect place to map for social territory in this assignment.
I have been to downtown Tucson and i’ve seen how it is at night in this area. Your description included many things that I’ve noticed while walking downtown. The map was helpful to show the places where people are able to get their alcohol like the bars and liquor stores. It’s interesting that you noted that there were not many people that were not drinking which confirms your point that the main purpose for people going downtown to this area is to drink.
ReplyDeleteThis concept of mapping social drinking spaces is really interesting! The map you made is a great visual, as the color-coded dots help clearly label the spots for anything related to the social drinking town lens. In terms of suggestions, I would love to see photos of what you saw while you went out and about following your friends and family downtown. I think this would help give more context and really show what the vibe is like. I’m curious how different it looks and feels compared to Tucson!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about this walk. I don’t spend too much time down town but the times I do, I have noticed how large the drinking scene really is. I like the map you created to show these places and how accessible it is for not only adults but for youth, teen drinking will unfortunately always be an issue. Taking this idea a step further I think this map would be a of great use for parents in the Tucson area to fully grasp the issue and make them more aware for their teens safety. I would have lived to see more images of prime locations but regardless the map is really strong and gave me a good idea of what it is really like in the downtown area.
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeletewhenever I walk down on fourth at night I do see the majority of people are drunk or have clearly been drinking. In fact I am often one of the people you see on fourth who has clearly been drinking. I think a big part of Tucsons large drinking culture is the fact that it is a college town. wonder what your observations would look like elsewhere in a town less frequented by college kids. one thing Would change is making the bar or liquor store colors different. they blend into each other a bit because they are similar.
This is such an honest and unique take! I really appreciate how you used mapping to reflect on deeper social patterns instead of just physical space. The way you connected drinking culture to the layout of your town was really insightful, and it made me think about how much our environments silently support certain behaviors. Your perspective as someone who doesn't drink added a lot to the reflection too.
ReplyDelete